Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 464 When the sky falls, it's Chen Ye's turn to hold it up.

The black stone shattered into dust, leaving behind a lot of colorful and shimmering fine sand.

As soon as these fine grains of sand were freed, without pausing or scattering to the ground, they hurtled towards Fei Lian Demon Lord and Chen Ye, just like the intact black stone from before.

Moreover, this time the fine sand split into two groups, each targeting Fei Lian and Chen Ye respectively.

That fierce momentum was even greater than before.

The Demon Lord Feilian naturally used his divine power of words becoming law once again, manifesting an invisible wall in front of him to block all the colorful sand outside.

However, that barrier only enveloped him alone.

As for Chen Ye, he acted as if he hadn't seen him at all, completely ignoring him.

"This kid has mastered the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts; he won't die so easily."

Although the two are now cooperating, Fei Lian Demon Lord felt uneasy seeing Chen Yezhen obtain immortality.

Why should Chen Ye carry the entire Book of Life and Death with him when he risked his life to find only a fragment in the Ruins of Return? Seeing that Chen Ye had made a huge profit, Demon Lord Feilian felt like he had suffered a huge loss.

Let him suffer a bit.

Chen Ye was indeed having a hard time coping. The speed of these colorful sands was beyond his imagination. In the blink of an eye, the magnificent sandstorm had already rushed in front of him.

In desperation, he summoned the Dharma form of the Fengdu Emperor without hesitation.

When the Hellish Divine Power is unleashed, the body is enveloped by several layers of hell, and what is within reach can become the ends of the earth.

But it doesn't make any sense.

These colorful sands seemed to possess some special power, directly penetrating through these multiple layers of hellish realms and still flying towards Chen Ye.

Even the divine powers of the Fengdu Emperor could not withstand it, so Chen Ye had no choice but to endure it head-on.

With the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts activated, Chen Ye transformed into a dragon, raising his scale-covered claws towards the colorful sand.

He thought that at worst he would lose one hand, since the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts could make it grow back anyway.

But just as Chen Ye was bracing himself for injury to defend himself, the multicolored sand gathered in his palm like fledglings returning to their nest. It had no impact, caused no wounds, and simply coalesced in Chen Ye's palm.

Not only that, the other stream of colorful sand that had been blocked by Fei Lian seemed to be affected as well, ignoring Fei Lian who was shutting them out, and also flew towards Chen Ye.

The two streams of multicolored sand converged into a ball, hovering in Chen Ye's palm, slowly rotating like a gentle nebula.

Chen Ye was extremely shocked, but he immediately realized that the five-colored sand was not meant to harm him, but rather that the artifact was eagerly recognizing him as its master.

Chen Ye held the soft, fine sand in his palm and tentatively released a wisp of spiritual energy from his body, attempting to blend it with the colorful sand.

As expected, the entire process proceeded without any hindrance. His spiritual energy blended perfectly with the colorful sand, like water and milk merging together.

Chen Ye couldn't help but burst into laughter: "I never expected that I would have two such fortunate encounters today."

Demon Lord Feilian stood to the side, his face so gloomy it could scare a person to death. He had clearly intended to teach Chen Ye a lesson, but instead, he had personally given him a rather powerful treasure.

Although it is still unclear what these multicolored sands are, if they are indeed treasures left behind by the Black Moon Demon Lord, then their value is absolutely extraordinary.

What he resented most was that this treasure should have been half his; initially, the artifact was split into two and thrown at the two of them respectively.

However, his earlier little scheme inadvertently pushed all the opportunities onto Chen Ye's side.

This is a classic case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

Chen Ye naturally knew that the Demon Lord Feilian was in a bad mood, so he didn't want to investigate the special effects of the five-colored sand in front of him.

He quickly and carefully tucked the handful of sand into his bosom, suppressing the smile on his face to avoid further provoking this capricious demonic giant.

Having obtained the Book of Life and Death and the Five-Colored Sand, two unparalleled treasures, Chen Ye was naturally in a very good mood.

However, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Bones was not so lucky.

The impact from the black stone nearly killed him. Now, he could only lie like a dead dog in the rubble, unable to move, only able to let out weak groans.

The Demon Lord Feilian was in a bad mood and naturally couldn't be bothered with the life or death of such a minor character.

Chen Ye still felt that the old devil was somewhat useful, so he went over and fed him a few healing pills, which barely saved the life of the Myriad Bones Ancestor.

After sending the Myriad Bones Ancestor to find a place to heal his wounds, Chen Ye put on a serious expression again, walked up to the Flying Demon Lord, and urged him to continue studying the divine technique of creating humans from clay.

Demon Lord Feilian originally intended to refuse outright.

He really didn't want to see Chen Ye gain such a huge advantage and then act like nothing had happened.

But then he thought, he'd already lost out once by not getting the treasure. If he were to give up this supreme secret technique that concerned his future, wouldn't he lose even more?

No matter how Chen Ye plans to operate his so-called Six Paths of Reincarnation in the future, I must get involved.

Therefore, he could only suppress his frustration and grit his teeth to continue researching the extremely difficult art of clay creation with Chen Ye.

Two more days have passed, and half of the ten-day deadline set by the Great Sage Overturning the Sea has already elapsed.

In the past few days, the two of them have hardly left the huge furnace in front of them, immersing themselves in the legendary art of "creating people from clay".

"No, still no!" Frustrated, Demon Lord Feilian threw a clay figure that had just taken shape but quickly crumbled into a puddle of mud on the ground, his tone full of frustration. "It has the form but not the spirit. This clay figure is ultimately a dead thing."

Even with the Furnace Body Refining Technique as a reference, directly transforming clay into a human body is still far too difficult.

The art of turning death into life, which directly addresses the essence of life, cannot be deduced in just a few days. The only gain is that the direction is correct, but the intermediate steps are too complex and require time to figure out.

Just as Chen Ye was about to offer some words of comfort, he suddenly felt the earth tremble slightly.

The tremor was initially very slight, as if ten thousand horses were galloping in the distance, but in just a few breaths, the tremor became more and more violent, like the prelude to an earth dragon turning over.

"Hmm?" Demon Lord Feilian raised an eyebrow, his irritation vanished, replaced by a smug smile.

Chen Ye also exclaimed with emotion, "It's finally here."

…………

The "residents" of Zhulu City were the first to feel this terrifying tremor from the distant underground world.

These were no longer human beings, but monsters and demonic cultivators fused with various ferocious beasts and poisonous insects, and they poured out from all directions at this moment.

Some demonic cultivators had grotesque scorpion tails on their lower bodies, some had carapaces and elytra on their backs, and some had their arms transformed into sharp mantis scythes, their eyes flashing with chaotic and bloodthirsty red light.

The Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones also forced his injured body out of the ward, unaware of the source of the tremor.

Underground, even the slightest sound can travel a long distance.

Therefore, most demonic cultivators try to walk quietly when they move around, so as not to be heard from a distance.

Such a large-scale upheaval could be either a deliberate demonstration by the people involved, or there were simply too many people to conceal their presence.

"Rumble--"

The muffled rumbling echoed repeatedly in the huge underground cavity, eventually coalescing into a deafening thunderclap.

Upon hearing this massive sound, the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones finally confirmed that the other party had acted on purpose, as if giving him a warning in advance, telling him that the visitor was not friendly.

Less than a hundred miles outside of Zhulu City, underground, a massive demon army was marching.

A body-refining demonic cultivator, ten feet tall with bulging muscles, a ghostly demon lord who wields a dense, ghostly mist, a bewitching female demon of the poison path whose breath is poisonous... all sorts of bizarre, twisted, and evil cultivators converged into an unstoppable torrent, sweeping towards Zhulu City.

The underground passage was originally too narrow for large-scale military operations, but now thousands of demons are joining forces to form an array, using spiritual energy to create dozens of drills that continuously split mountains and rocks, clearing a path for the thousands of demons to advance.

These drills relentlessly shattered the rocks beneath the earth, producing deafening roars that echoed in all directions. On the left, the "Red Bone Demon" carried a long, blood-dripping spine blade, his malevolent aura almost tangible; on the right, the "Lady of Yin Wind" was suspended in mid-air by nine ghostly figures, her body wreathed in eerie flames; in the center, the "Hundred-Eyed Ghost King," with his hundreds of evil eyes swirling, emitted a chaotic and frenzied mental attack... And these infamous demons, at this moment, were like stars surrounding the moon, guarding the throne in the center.

It was a huge throne carved from seven-colored glass, upon which sat a young woman dressed in ethereal white robes.

It was Qinglan, the granddaughter of the Azure Dragon Lord and the murderer who slaughtered the Mirage Sect!
Qinglan was already stunningly beautiful, and now her cultivation seemed to have improved considerably. Her phoenix eyes seemed to contain the tides of the ocean, constantly shifting within them.

When her gaze swept over the demons beside her, those ruthless and vicious ancient demons all lowered their heads humbly, daring not to meet Qinglan's eyes.

In the past few days, Qinglan has swept away the now-declining Demonic Sect with extremely powerful methods.

Although Qinglan was only at the Nascent Soul stage, she could suck people into her stomach with a single breath. No matter how powerful your supernatural abilities were, you could only be refined into your original spiritual energy by her.

No one can withstand this method; even those who attempt to escape by teleporting their souls cannot get away.

Faced with the threat of death, these demons had no choice but to submit.

Qinglan showed no sign of stopping, fighting almost day and night for several days, and finally brought most of the famous demons under her command. Now, only the Wanhai Old Demon of Zhulu City remains.

"boom!"

The demonic army finally carved out a smooth path; this place was only a thousand zhang away from Zhulu City.

Thousands of demons obeyed orders and lined up outside the city, their demonic energy billowing and stretching across the entire city, as if they were about to launch an attack at any moment.

Qinglan slowly rose and addressed Zhulu City: "Old Demon Wanhai, submit, or die."

The sound, amplified by magic, transformed into rolling sound waves that reverberated throughout the enormous underground cavern.

The demons under his command shouted in unison, "Submit, or die!"

Such prestige has not been seen in the Demonic Sect for many years.

As soon as the words were spoken, a pale white, bone-like light screen shot into the sky above Zhulu City. This was the city-protecting formation that the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones had been building for many years. On the light screen, countless tiny runes wriggled like maggots on bones, forming the shape of countless eyes, staring at the demonic cultivator alliance outside the city with resentment.

Although the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones seemed determined to fight to the bitter end, countless monstrous demonic cultivators within Zhulu City appeared restless and anxious under the pressure of the Qinglan army.

The enemy outnumbered the demonic cultivators in Zhulu City by dozens of times. How could they possibly be a match for them in a real fight?

The Demon King of Ten Thousand Bones knew he absolutely couldn't stop it, but he wasn't in despair yet.

During these past few days, he focused on recovering from his injuries and also gathered a lot of information, deducing Fei Lian and Chen Ye's purpose in coming to Zhuolu City.

He wasn't there for the Furnace Body Refining Technique, nor to steal his black stone treasure; rather, he wanted to wait and see if this Qinglan girl would walk right into his trap.

Meanwhile, the Demon King Wanhai also learned other news: this Qinglan girl was the granddaughter of the Azure Dragon Lord, and could be considered to come from a prestigious family. Her methods in subduing a group of demons these past few days were quite skillful. However, her public statement was that the Demon Lord Feilian had been tricked by the righteous path and was already dead.

It was through this false information that Qinglan was able to make these demons bow down and admit their inferiority.

But at this very moment, the Demon Lord Feilian is in the city.

This is a true Dao Integration Realm Grand Cultivator, the true number one person in the world.

As long as Demon Lord Feilian puts on his deer antler hat and shows his face outside the city, the opposing demonic cultivator alliance will instantly crumble.

Where the furnace was located, Demon Lord Feilian and Chen Ye had already heard the shouts outside. He sneered, "Such a grand display, but unfortunately, they are all worthless scum, a rabble cobbled together. The Demonic Sect these days is truly dominated by useless trash, utterly unworthy of mention."

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Master, why are you laughing so happily when the Demonic Sect is declining?"

After Chen Ye said that, Demon Lord Feilian realized that his attitude was wrong.

After spending a few days with Chen Ye, I almost forgot that I was the number one person in the demonic path.

Even though they had agreed to a two-hundred-year non-aggression pact, the fact that the Demonic Sect had weakened to such an extent was ultimately not a good thing for him.

But when Chen Ye reminded him, the Demon Lord Fei Lian became unhappy and said to Chen Ye, "Why don't you hurry up and go out and clean up those useless things?"

Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "What?!"

Outside, there were thousands of powerful demons, many of whom had cultivation levels higher than Chen Ye's.

How could he possibly defeat so many by himself?

According to the original plan, Demon Lord Feilian should have flown out, circled around, and uttered a sentence, causing Qinglan to bind herself and crawl over.

Feilian Demon Lord sneered, "If you're not going, who is it that I am? The Great Sage of Overturning the Seas said that you are to unify the demonic path. If you don't use your own abilities to subdue them, how can you expect the eighteen inheritors to open the formation and let you in to find Youluozi?"

Chen Ye couldn't help but ask, "Lord, you don't still resent me for taking your immortal destiny, do you?"

The Demon Lord Feilian nodded and said, "That's right, I just don't like you, but isn't this what you want? Chen Ye, you are now the leader of the righteous path. If you can unify the demonic sect, and I can't take action for the next two hundred years, how many mortals do you think you can save in those two hundred years?"

Chen Ye was well aware of the attitude of the demonic cultivators towards mortals.

They regard mortals as pigs and dogs, and killing to cultivate their power is commonplace. Even under the deterrence of the righteous path, they dare not openly massacre cities and destroy countries, but their covert looting and killing have never ceased. Every year, tens of thousands of innocent mortals are tortured and killed by demonic cultivators.

If the Demon Lord Feilian were to unify the Demonic Sect, even if they dared not launch an attack for the next two hundred years, they would simply let it go and would never interfere with the plundering activities of the lesser demons.

Only if Chen Ye unifies the Demonic Sect can this behavior be stopped.

After a long silence, Chen Ye let out a long sigh.

“I once said, ‘When you are successful, you should help others; when you are unsuccessful, you should cultivate your own virtue.’” He shook his head self-deprecatingly. “I never thought that after only a few years of being ‘poor,’ the sky would fall and I would really have to hold it up.”

“However…” Chen Ye suddenly raised his head, his face no longer showing any helplessness.

With a soft hum, a halberd gleaming with a chilling light appeared in his hand. Dragon patterns coiled around the halberd's blade, its aura of both malevolence and auspiciousness intertwined, making it appear extremely extraordinary.

Holding his halberd, Chen Ye said to Fei Lian, "Since it's within my power, let's do some good for all living beings. My lord, today I ask you to be my witness, and let me steal your title of 'Number One Demonic Martial Artist'!"

Before he finished speaking, Chen Ye had already ridden auspicious clouds and flown out of the city.

Outside the city of Zhuolu, demonic energy surges like the sea.

Qinglan was coldly watching the restless monsters and demonic cultivators on the city wall, calculating the limits of the city's protective formation.

Just then, a golden light shot out from the city!

The light started as a single point, but in the blink of an eye it stretched across the sky, carrying an unparalleled domineering power and might, and flew over the allied forces of demonic cultivators.

"what is that?!"

All the demons, including Qinglan on the throne, couldn't help but look up.

Within the golden light, an enormous halberd crashed down.

A deafening roar, as if the heavens and earth were shattered!

The military formation, painstakingly set up by tens of thousands of demonic cultivators, crumbled like a fragile piece of glass beneath that massive halberd. With a sharp crack, the entire array's light barrier was instantly covered with massive, spiderweb-like cracks, and shattered within a single breath.

The terrifying recoil force swept out like a raging torrent.

The hundreds of demons at the core of the formation didn't even have time to scream before their bodies exploded from the force, turning into clouds of blood mist! The demon cultivators on the periphery were also struck as if by lightning, spitting out blood and weakening their aura. Some were even directly shattered, their bodies disappearing on the spot.

The power of a single strike is so great!

In an instant, the noisy demon army fell into dead silence.

All eyes, whether filled with fear, horror, or disbelief, were fixed on the figure in mid-air.

Chen Ye slowly retracted his halberd, holding it horizontally in front of him, its tip pointing diagonally at the skeletal throne below.

Chen Ye then asked the thousands of demons, "The Crimson Serpent Lord is here! Who will be the first to face death?!"

(End of this chapter)